Lumberton's National Night Out celebration ranks among top in the country

Tuesday

Dec 25, 2012 at 12:01 AMDec 25, 2012 at 5:00 AM

By Matt ChiappardiStaff writer

LUMBERTON — When it comes to celebrating National Night Out, the experts agree that the Lumberton Police Department is among the best.

The National Association of Town Watch, which sponsors the annual nationwide event, ranked the township’s celebration this year 19th in the country for towns of comparable size.

With National Night Out, town watch organizations partner with the police and local businesses to educate residents about public safety and strengthen bonds between law enforcement and the communities they serve.

Officials at the association based the recognition on turnout, which this year attracted about 850 people in the township.

“We had the banner up in the town for a while, and we did a lot to get the word out,” police Chief Anthony DiLoreto said. “A lot of people knew about National Night Out this year, and that was awesome.”

The summer of 2012 marked the 29th year of National Night Out, which has grown to include more than 15,000 communities in North America and involve 37 million people.

This year’s celebrations were held Aug. 7.

At the end of the year, the National Association of Town Watch goes through thousands of applications to recognize some of the communities’ celebrations and choose the 20 best events in categories based on town size.

Lumberton, with its nearly 13,000 residents, placed in the category of towns with populations of less than 15,000.

This year’s No. 1 in that category was Fircrest, Wash., a suburb of Tacoma.

Towns must submit both an intention to apply before the event and a completed application afterward.

This was the first year that Lumberton applied, and the police force was overwhelmed by the accolade.

“A lot of people pulled together to make this happen,” DiLoreto said. “The Township Committee backed us, and everybody in the department worked very hard and did an excellent job.”

The celebrations are judged on several criteria, including the amount of community and law enforcement participation, how well it is publicized, and how unique and well-organized they are, association executive director Matt Peskin said.

What impressed the judges the most about Lumberton was the turnout for a community of its size.

“They did a lot to get the word out and got a pretty nice turnout because of it,” Peskin said. “To get 850 people to come out to anything is pretty amazing.”

Some events in larger towns in the county saw only 100 to 200 people show up. Other communities attract just a few dozen.

Lumberton’s event started with a parade on Main Street that ended with a cookout with live music and other entertainment in the parking lot of the municipal complex.

“We had the sirens going, so that drew a lot of people out who weren’t already there,” DiLoreto said.

The event also featured an appearance by a U.S. Marine Cobra attack helicopter, as well as demonstrations by canine officers and the Fire Department’s extrication team.

“This successful event clearly showed how Lumberton Township pulled together and made the evening rank as one of the best in the country,” DiLoreto said. “We would like to express our sincere thanks to all who volunteered and donated to the event.”

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